Today's News

Reece Murphyrmurphy@thelancasternews.com
A Lancaster man was flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following a motorcycle accident on Great Falls Highway (S.C. 200) Wednesday afternoon.
The accident occurred at 3:12 p.m. in front of Griswold's Family Produce.
S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Billy Elder said Robert Junior White, 53, of 2273 Green Peach Road was driving north on his 2001 Harley Davidson when he struck a car that pulled out in front of him leaving the produce market.

According to CNN’s Moni Basu, the plight of folks living in Lancaster is likened to Tom Joad’s family in John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.”
Steinbeck documents the misery the Joads experience as they leave their foreclosed, dust-covered farm in Oklahoma to find work in Depression-era California.
“In hard-hit S.C. town, faith and finances fuel political decisions,” Basu equates the aftermath of Springs Industries’ demise to the Joads’ struggle as migrant workers.

Gregory A. Summersgsummers@thelancasternews.com
Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum can’t blame the outcome of the 2012 South Carolina Republican Party presidential primary on the weather.
Despite a cold, day-long rain, voters in Lancaster County came out to give Newt Gingrich the GOP party nod.
Gringrich won 43 of South Carolina’s 46 counties, while Romney won the primary in Beaufort, Charleston and Richland counties.

Jeanette Pittman knows the ridership for the Lancaster Area Ride Service may be small, but told Lancaster County Council on Monday night that the service provides a world of help for local residents.
“I’m very concerned about canceling LARS,” Pittman said, minutes before council discussed reconsidering its Jan. 9 decision to not apply for a S.C. Department of Transportation grant to help extend the service. Under current conditions, and with no extra funding, the grant supporting LARS will end later this year and operations could cease after Sept. 30.

KERSHAW – Kershaw officials expect renovations to begin soon on the building the will house the town’s CareNet office.
Town Administrator Tony Starnes gave Town Council an update about the process during its Jan. 17 meeting.
CareNet, which provides health services to the uninsured and under-insured in Lancaster County, plans to open an additional office in Kershaw at 212 E. Marion St. The vacant building has to be renovated to function as a health center.

Christopher Sardellicsardelli@thelancasternews.com
Investigators are scanning surveillance footage hoping to identify a man who robbed a customer at an ATM last week.
The robbery happened Jan. 16 at about 9:45 p.m. as a 67-year-old Lancaster man was withdrawing money from the ATM at BB&T, at 600 N. Main St., according to a Lancaster Police Department incident report. The man reported the armed robbery a few minutes later at the police department.

The local economy followed an interesting trend that has seen a drop in the state’s jobless rate despite increases in most counties.
Lancaster County’s unemployment rate for December was 13.4 percent, a jump from the 12.9 percent rate in November, according to numbers released Tuesday by the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.
The county had the state’s 13th highest unemployment rate last month. In December 2010, the county posted 15.6 percent, which was seventh in the state at the time.

From Release
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office will hold four personal safety lectures in each area of the county.
Due to the recent tragic events in Kershaw and Chesterfield counties, the sheriff’s office has identified a need to help educate the public regarding steps they can take to increase their awareness level and their personal safety.
The classes will include information regarding personal safety tips, safety plans, firearms safety, and self-defense laws and techniques.